Chapter 56: The Gambler

Chen Ji watched as the dark clouds slowly retreated into the shadows, vanishing into the gambling house.

The dark clouds dove into the curtain of rain, ignoring the torrential downpour soaking its body, and searched every corner of Hongyi Lane.

It flipped into a backyard, gently lifting a bamboo tray to reveal the fat orange cat inside.

Seeing it was an orange cat, Wuyun felt a slight sense of disappointment, but after a moment's hesitation, it asked, "Have you seen an injured human fleeing tonight?"

The fat orange cat looked up and meowed: *Huh?*

Wuyun suppressed its temper: "I said, have you seen an injured human..."

The fat orange cat meowed in confusion again: *Huh?*

Wuyun covered the bamboo tray back up: "I shouldn't have bothered asking you!"

Braving the heavy rain, it climbed back up to the roof of the tallest building in Hongyi Lane, the "Golden Workshop."

Standing on the eaves, it overlooked the entirety of Hongyi Lane, rapidly analyzing where the Calico and Tabby might appear.

Suddenly, Wuyun saw that in the nearby streets, hundreds of spies were lying in ambush, hidden in the shadows under straw raincoats. Not only that, but some spies were disguised as civilians, searching house by house.

Although the heavy rain made searching for the defecting spy difficult, the Golden Pig had not truly given up!

Urgency surging in its heart, Wuyun leaped from the eaves. It had to find that person before the Bureau of Spies did.

At this moment, looking out into the dark night through the back door of the gambling house, Chen Ji felt a sense of trepidation, as if a crisis were closing in.

No matter how skilled Chen Ji was at reasoning, it would be impossible to find that defecting spy under these circumstances.

Fortunately, Wuyun had brought a turning point... it all depended on whether Wuyun could find the defecting spy before the Bureau of Spies.

Chen Ji straightened his straw raincoat, pulled down the brim of his bamboo hat, and turned back into the main hall of the gambling house.

He found a spy and pointed to Chen Wenxiao, who was crouching in the crowd: "Drag him into the room and hang him up. I have questions for him."

Chen Wenxiao had been crouching on the ground for so long that his legs were numb; he kept shifting his posture as if he were desperate to urinate.

As he spoke, a spy approached Chen Wenxiao, grabbed him by his hair bun, and began to lead him away: "You, come with me."

Chen Wenxiao’s hair was pulled painfully, and he could only grimace as he was dragged into an upstairs private room and bound with ropes, suspended from the ceiling.

After a long while, the spy withdrew. Chen Ji entered wearing his bamboo hat and asked slowly, "Name."

"My father is the Vice Prefect of Luocheng, Chen Liqin! You cannot treat me like this!" Chen Wenxiao roared, trying to see Chen Ji's face, but as he hung from the beam, his vision was entirely obscured by Chen Ji's hat.

With a *thud*, Chen Ji struck Chen Wenxiao with a feather duster and said coldly, "Answer only what is asked. Do you understand?"

"I understand, I understand," Chen Wenxiao stammered, his hands aching from the ropes, losing all the elegance he once possessed while riding through Luocheng.

"Name."

"Chen Wenxiao."

Chen Ji asked, "Why are you colluding with the Jing Dynasty?"

"Huh?" Chen Wenxiao was stunned. He had no idea how he had become entangled in such a massive crime.

Panicked, Chen Wenxiao cried, "I'm being framed! I'm not colluding with the Jing Dynasty! I just came here to gamble!"

"Framed?" Chen Ji asked with a cold sneer. "Then why are there no IOUs or transaction records under your name in any of the gambling house ledgers in all of Hongyi Lane? You are not a gambler here; you are clearly a Jing Dynasty spy here to rendezvous with your comrades!"

Chen Wenxiao grew frantic: "I only returned from Donglin Academy a few days ago! How could I have transaction records and IOUs?"

Chen Ji said gloomily, "It seems you have no way to prove yourself? Then follow me to the Inner Prison."

Upon hearing the words "Inner Prison," Chen Wenxiao was so terrified he nearly lost control of his bladder. In recent years, how many people had ever walked out of the Inner Prison alive? Never mind that he was the son of a fifth-rank official; even fifth-rank officials had died inside in countless numbers.

He thought for a long time: "Wait! Before I went to Donglin Academy, I used my brother Chen Ji's name to borrow money from the gambling houses, which is why my name isn't there. You can check the ledgers of every house; you will definitely find Chen Ji!"

Chen Wenxiao added, "In these past three years, I have returned home for a month every Lunar New Year to visit my family. You will definitely find the name Chen Ji in the records for this time every year."

Chen Ji remained silent.

Did he have the ledgers of every gambling house? Of course not. He was merely bluffing to pressure Chen Wenxiao based on his own deductions.

Once, he truly believed his predecessor had been a gambler and that the Chen family loathed him because of his actual misconduct.

But now, Chen Ji suddenly understood many things.

He lowered his head and asked softly, "Since the name Chen Ji was used, who should the gambling houses go to for repayment?"

Chen Wenxiao replied, "Naturally, they would go to my father. If my father did not want our family's shame to be spread, he could only take responsibility for those IOUs."

Chen Ji was puzzled: "Did your father know these were your debts?"

"No, he thought they belonged to Chen Ji."

Chen Ji was even more confused: "Could Chen Ji not defend himself?"

"He tried to defend himself, but what use was it? His reputation had been ruined years ago. My father simply didn't believe a word he said... My Lord, please, I beg you, let me down. I really am not a Jing Dynasty spy. Being hung up like this is too painful."

Chen Ji exhaled softly. "I am not yet certain if what you say is true... For the sake of Lord Chen, I can let you go for now, but you must write down everything you just said and sign it with your thumbprint. If anything is found to be untrue, the Bureau of Spies will come to the Chen residence to find you."

Chen Wenxiao wept with joy. "Don't worry, My Lord! Every word I say is true. I will write it all down clearly!"

Chen Ji walked out of the room and gave instructions to the spies.

Two spies entered the room and closed the door. A moment later, one of them emerged holding a sheet of rice paper covered in writing and handed it to Chen Ji. "He has finished writing."

"Thank you," Chen Ji nodded and turned to head toward the second floor, carefully tucking the confession into his robe, hidden beneath his straw raincoat.

"My... My Lord," the spy said. He did not know Chen Ji's rank, nor how to address him, but seeing that Chen Ji followed closely by Lord Golden Pig, he assumed he was a confidant of the Golden Pig. "How should we deal with the man in the room?"

As Chen Ji climbed the wooden stairs, his voice drifted down lightly, "Keep him hanging."

...

...

Just as Chen Ji was heading upstairs, a spy came sprinting through the door. He threw his rain-soaked straw raincoat onto the floor and, gripping his waist saber, rushed toward the second floor.

Reaching the door of the second-floor private room, the spy bowed to the Golden Pig, who was sipping tea inside. "My Lord, I have fulfilled my duty! I have finally found a witness. The witness is a street vendor who saw a person clutching a wound in their waist running toward the west this evening!"

Chen Ji's heart sank. He hadn't expected that despite the Golden Pig saying it was impossible to find him, he had still arranged a massive amount of manpower to scour for clues.

And they had actually found something!

Where was that defecting spy now? Had anyone else seen him? What would he confess after being captured? Chen Ji knew nothing.

Chen Ji composed himself and looked at the Golden Pig. "Congratulations, My Lord. Success is within reach."

The Golden Pig stood up with a smile. "Send men to continue searching west. He must have been seen by others while fleeing. Scour for every single witness! The Jing Dynasty's Intelligence Bureau sent so many people to catch him; this man must be hiding a great secret! We must find him tonight!"

The spy took his orders and hurried downstairs toward the exit.

However, just as he stepped out of the gambling house's main entrance, a thunderous *boom* echoed. The man was sent flying back into the gambling house, smashing through a table!

With a sharp *clang*, all the spies drew their blades and aimed their waist crossbows at the darkness outside the entrance.

But the newcomer was clad in a blue cloak. He merely pulled the cloak from his collar, swept it in front of him in a single motion, and caught all the crossbow bolts within the fabric, remaining completely unharmed!

The torrential rain falling around him seemed to be pushed away by a magnet, not a single drop touching him.

Chen Ji heard the Golden Pig beside him let out a cold laugh. "That is no Jing Dynasty spy. Judging by that move, he looks more like a certain Traveling Official. I heard he went into seclusion in the mountains years ago; I didn't expect him to reappear in the martial world today... Move! I want him alive!"

In the next instant, a spy pulled out a copper whistle and blew it.

Shouts of battle erupted from outside Hongyi Lane as hundreds of spies emerged from the shadows, surrounding the Traveling Official.

The Golden Pig walked down the stairs with composure, pacing calmly outside the perimeter. He toyed with a few copper coins in his hand, appearing ready to flick them at any moment to take a life.

Chen Ji silently observed the situation. He didn't care whether this battle resulted in a victory for the Intelligence Bureau or the Bureau of Spies...

"Meow!"

A sudden cat cry rang out. Chen Ji turned toward the window and saw Wuyun standing on the sill. "Found him. A Tabby said they saw him flee to Anxi Street, into the backyard of that cloth shop that just moved out."

Chen Ji frowned. Why did the man happen to flee to Anxi Street of all places?!

Anxi Street was not a major thoroughfare, nor was it as chaotic and easy to hide in as the East or West Markets. On the contrary, because it was near the Prince's Mansion, there were even more soldiers patrolling at night.

Was this spy heading there to find him, or did he truly happen to flee to Anxi Street? It couldn't be that coincidental!

The better one was at reasoning, the less one believed in coincidence!

Chen Ji knew he could no longer stay here; he had to deal with this spy!

But how could he leave?

As he was thinking, the sound of shattering tiles came from above. Chen Ji looked up; upon the wooden ceiling and beams, it seemed someone was approaching the eaves with heavy footsteps.

Not only that, but footsteps were also approaching from other directions, heading toward the various windows of the second floor.

The Traveling Official outside was a diversion to draw the tiger away from the mountain; these spies invading from all sides were here to silence the witnesses.

With a *whoosh*, a masked figure in black flipped through the window from the roof. Like a hawk, without a word, he drew his blade and slashed toward Chen Ji!

In the narrow room, Chen Ji grabbed a nearby chair and hurled it at the spy, while he himself quickly retreated from the room and shouted from the second-floor corridor, "Lord Golden Pig, someone is infiltrating from above!"

His shout drew everyone's attention. The Golden Pig's eyebrows twitched, and he turned to charge back.

In his return, the Golden Pig saw a spy chasing someone with a blade into the corridor.

The spy's saber techniques were fierce, sending wood chips flying with every strike. Chen Ji, a mere weak medical apprentice, could only desperately dodge left and right, completely unable to fight back!

With a *hiss*, the tip of the blade grazed Chen Ji's chest, tearing a massive hole in his straw raincoat and allowing blood to seep through his clothes.

Just when everyone thought Chen Ji was about to die, he seemed to find a sudden burst of courage. He let out a roar and, instead of retreating, charged forward, slamming himself into the Jing Dynasty spy's chest!

With a desperate surge of strength, Chen Ji used his arm to pin the spy's blade-wielding hand under his armpit, pushing the spy back into the room and crashing through the second-floor window!

The Golden Pig froze for a moment, but then, with a slight exertion of his legs, his stout frame floated upward like a feather.

He reached the window just in time to see the Jing Dynasty spy, who had fallen from the building, stumbling after the heavily wounded Chen Ji as they both plunged into the dark, rainy night of Hongyi Lane.

Standing by the window frame, the Golden Pig let the night rain wash over him. "Strange. The Jing Dynasty spy came to silence witnesses. Why would he abandon his target and chase Chen Ji like his life depended on it?"

(End of Chapter)